How to Properly Uninstall SwitchResX for Mac

Bernice Curry

19-05-14 9:09

87

Questions: What is the correct way to uninstall SwitchResX on a Mac? And how can you fully remove all files and folders created by SwitchResX from your system?

As a paid utility software, SwitchResX for Mac allows you to adjust the display resolution and other monitor settings. Yet, installing SwitchResX can be confusing for novices, and uninstalling it also create troubles if you follow the wrong procedure.

In this post we will demonstrate two approaches to uninstall SwitchResX for Mac. You can either follow manual steps to remove the unwanted application, or more efficiently, adopt an automatic uninstall tool to solve the task with minimal efforts.

Approach 1: manually remove SwitchResX through Finder

Typically, you will need to go through three steps to achieve a hassle-free, clean removal of Mac apps: (1) checking if SwitchResX is active (and quit it if so), (2) deleting SwitchResX in Applications folder, and (3) detecting SwitchResX remnants.

First of all, quit SwitchResX if it is active…

Before uninstalling any app, you should check first if the app is currently running. An active app cannot be deleted, so please make sure SwitchResX is deactivated.

To quit SwitchResX, right click on it in the Dock and choose Quit to shut down the app. If the app is frozen or stops responding, you can choose Force Quit instead.

An alternative way to force quit an app: press the Command – Option – Esx keystroke to activate the Quit Applications windows, then choose the app in the list, click Force Quit button below, and click Force Quit again in the pop-up dialog.

If you are not sure whether the app or it related process still runs, use this little trick:

Open up Activity Monitor from Dock, via Launchpad or through Spotlight

Type SwitchResX in search box, and select the process that contains the keyword

Click the X icon on the upper left corner, and click (Force) Quit in pop-up dialog

After that, if SwitchResX remains in Dock, right click on its icon again and choose Options > Remove from Dock. And then you can go ahead to the standard uninstall.

Secondly, remove SwitchResX in the /Applications folder…

Here are the regular steps to uninstall an app in all versions of macOS/Mac OS X:

Open up Finder, and access to the /Applications folder from the sidebar or Go menu

Locate SwitchResX, drag its icon to the Trash in Dock, and drop it inside the Trash icon (alternatively, right click on SwitchResX and choose Move to Trash option)

Choose Empty Trash from the Finder menu, and then click Empty Trash button

Note that emptying the Trash will permanently remove all the items inside. Before that, make sure that everything in Trash is no longer needed. To avoid any risk in this step, you can delete the app individually in Trash like this: open up Trash, right click on SwitchResX, choose Delete Immediately, and click Delete in the pop-up dialog.

For the apps that are installed from the Mac App Store, you can also adopt this way:

Access to Launchpad from the Dock, through Spotlight, or by gesture shortcut

Locate the target app, then press and hold the app icon until it starts to jiggle

Click the X icon on the upper left corner of the icon, and then click Delete button

If there is not X icon appearing in the app icon, that means this app is not installed through Mac App Store and therefore cannot be uninstalled by this dedicated option.

The last but not least, detect SwitchResX leftovers…

Not sure if you have fully removed SwitchResX from the system? You can utilize the Search feature in Finder to locate and delete items that are pertaining to SwitchResX.

There are the common system folders that may store files associated with target app:~/Library/Caches/, ~/Library/Preferences/, ~/Library/PreferencePanes/, ~/Library/ApplicationSupport/, ~/Library/LaunchAgents/, ~/Library/LaunchDaemons/, ~/Library/StartupItems/

To begin with, you need to access to the hidden ~/Library (or /Library) system folder:

In an active Finder window, click Go in the menu bar, and choose Go to Folder

Type ~/Library (or /Library) in the box, and hit Return key to open up the folder

Then you can scan out SwitchResX components using Finder’s Search feature:

In the ~/Library folder, type SwitchResX (or the vendor’s name) in the search bar

Click “Library” under the bar to show the search result in the hidden directory

If there is any file or folders whose name contains the keyword, try to identify whether it is belonging to the target app, and if so, delete them all to the Trah

After that, repeat the steps to detect SwitchResX leftovers in the /Library folder

Warning: Mistakenly deleting unrelated items in those hidden system folders could affect the normal use of other apps or even the system. Don’t rush to empty your Trash before you are sure you only delete the target application’s components.

If you lack confidence in this detection task, you prefer to carry out app removal in a hassle-free way, continue reading to know how you can easily remove SwitchResX.

Approach 2: easily remove SwitchResX by Osx Uninstaller

As a lightweight yet powerful removal utility, Osx Uninstaller allows you to thoroughly remove SwitchResX or other unwanted apps in three simple steps.

In order to use this tool on your Mac, click the Download button below to get the installation file, open up the file, and drag the app icon to your Applications folder.

Here is the procedure to completely uninstall SwitchResX using Osx Uninstaller: